Fuel Russian Roulette

[GridGirl]

So to set the story, I filled up with fuel last Thursday, went to work in Birmingham and then drove up to Nottingham for a wedding on Saturday. I drove to Leeds on Sunday after we checked out of the hotel and spent most of Sunday afternoon sleeping, ate a roast dinner, watched an episode of Lost then went back to bed. I got up at 5.30am on Monday morning to head for Birmingham to go to work. I got a call late Monday afternoon from my other half telling me that I had left my handbag and most importantly all access to funds in Leeds.

Moving on, I arrived at work yesterday morning with 9 miles worth of fuel in my 2.0l petrol car. Suprisingly when I turn on my car to go home last night I had 18 miles worth of fuel left...result! I had about 5miles of fuel left when I got home and 0 miles when I turned the engine on to make the 10 mile drive to sunny Edgbaston this morning. I've rang my dad and we're going out for tea tonight and he's also going to buy me some fuel. That is provided my car will make the 15 miles to his house and then a petrol station.

I can only assume that I am running on fume's now. But as that episode of TopGear once proved you can actually go for miles when it tells you have no fuel left. I have to say I'm quite enjoying playing fuel russian roulette. Although this is mainly becuase the car is still working. :D

Anyone else played and how far you got?

[Dave B]

I played it in Belgium in a hire car, not knowing where the next petrol station was and with an electronic fuel guage which gave up when the range dipped below 50km. We won :D

[slorydn1]

I completely run it it dry on purpose, to see what the limit is....(that's why they make gas cans :p : )

I have found in my f-150, my "trip computer" will show 0 miles left when I actualy have 2 gallons left in the tank.....a reserve if you will. For me that could mean anywhere from 26-40 more miles depending on city/highway driving.

[CarlMetro]

I like to play this, although it winds up my wife something terrible. I tend to ignore the computer which tells me LOW FUEL when there's a god 50 or so miles left at least.

I tend to play using the warning lights and the gauge to see how far below the empty line I dare to go before I find a station.

A word of warning though, be careful if you run out in an older diesel engined vehicle as the fuel system will have to be bled and that can take time and be costly too, I speak from experience on that one.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Funny this thread comes up. I did it yesterday. I left home to pick up my wife for 8 at night. I had forgotten to put gas in it when I was out and about yesterday, and left for the 30km trip to Scarborough (the eastern part of Toronto). The gauge said I had just a sliver of gas. I was late, so I thought, I will pick up some after I get my wife. I get there, wait, talk to the security guard for about 10 minutes, the wife shows up, I forget about the gas gauge.

10 minutes down the road on the highway, gas gauge light comes on...

Now Why I just didn't jump off at the first exit, I don't know, but I pushed east, and I was tempted to drive it right home because I KNOW there was more gas in there. I was only a couple blocks from home and I stopped and filled. I was scolded and told I was going to be doing the pushing...lol...

Anyhow, 48 liters of gas later...it was filled. Looked in the owner's manual, and a 05 Pontiac Sunfire only has a fuel capacity of 48liters...so I think I was really cutting it close OR the filler neck holds probably a liter or two....

Either way, I don't know how far I could have gone, but the car is the wife's, and she has an aversion to running out of gas...lol...

[CarlMetro]

Anyhow, 48 liters of gas later...it was filled. Looked in the owner's manual, and a 05 Pontiac Sunfire only has a fuel capacity of 48liters...so I think I was really cutting it close OR the filler neck holds probably a liter or two..

I've put 64 litres into a 60 litre on several occasions :dozey:

[Mark in Oshawa]

I've put 64 litres into a 60 litre on several occasions :dozey:

Oh so true...but I was still shocked I was able to fit in the full capacity. I was basically driving on what is in the filler neck.

I felt like Clarkson did in that Jag...like I was going to be getting away with something I shouldn't have...

[Daniel]

I would say be careful when running right down to the line because all the gunk and metal fragments which have settled in the bottom of your fuel tank will happily make their way through your filters.. :)

That's a nice myth you have there ;) In a modern car like the ones most people in here will be talking about the tank is plastic so where this gunk comes from I know not ;) Perhaps in ye olden dayes with metal tanks you'd get this but not now.

I've had 42 litres in a 35 litre tank in my 500 before so manufacturers are a little conservative with capacities and you can of course also fit a few litres in the filler neck.

Another myth is that if you brim your car up that when the car heats up that the fuel will expand and come out. I worked out that for 40 litres of fuel the expansion rate was so low that you'd have to drive only 10 miles or so to make enough space for there be room for the fuel to expand to compensate for a 20 degree celsius rise in temp. So obviously if you've got a petrol station next door it's probably not the best idea to brim your tank and then park your car up at home on a 40 degree day but I really doubt it'll cause anyone any problems.

Carl is right though about older diesels as you'd have to purge the air from the fuel lines.

[Daniel]

That's a nice myth you have there ;) In a modern car like the ones most people in here will be talking about the tank is plastic so where this gunk comes from I know not ;) Perhaps in ye olden dayes with metal tanks you'd get this but not now.

I've had 42 litres in a 35 litre tank in my 500 before so manufacturers are a little conservative with capacities and you can of course also fit a few litres in the filler neck.

Another myth is that if you brim your car up that when the car heats up that the fuel will expand and come out. I worked out that for 40 litres of fuel the expansion rate was so low that you'd have to drive only 10 miles or so to make enough space for there be room for the fuel to expand to compensate for a 20 degree celsius rise in temp. So obviously if you've got a petrol station next door it's probably not the best idea to brim your tank and then park your car up at home on a 40 degree day but I really doubt it'll cause anyone any problems.

Carl is right though about older diesels as you'd have to purge the air from the fuel lines.
Back on topic. I have been tempted to run out of fuel in my Fiat just to see how much fuel will actually fit in there. I almost always run my car pretty much dry on every tank because I don't see the point in lugging fuel around that I'm never going to use, just don't see the point in it.

I'm so epictastically sad that I've recorded every single time I've filled the 500 up with fuel to date :p
http://www.fuelly.com/driver/306maxi/500
All going well this summer after the car gets its first service I'm hoping to get 500 miles out of a tank. Now where's the sad bugger smiley? :p

Speaking of people who DON'T play fuel russian roulette, check this guy out! http://www.fuelly.com/driver/mark1978/fiesta His car is a diesel and has a 40 or 45 litre tank (I forget which) so it should go further than my Fiat but he's a wimp and has never even had it over 300 miles for a tank :p

[driveace]

So its a myth that when you run low you dont pull all the sh**/water/grit etc through from the tank,well you believe it then,
Why do we have fuel filters on all diesel vehicles ,wagons etc,the FILTER OUT the crap,we also on some fuel filters have a drain off valve on the bottom of the filter to drain of the water,condensation etc that is in the PLASTIC or Metal tank.There are lots of different grades of diesel,that are used in diesel engines ,and it does not have to be as well refined as petrol is.
BUT as a fully qualified motor engineer I maybe dont know as well as you do Daniel

[fandango]

I did it without realising it. When I first got my current bike, the valve was switched to reserve tank, but it LOOKED like it was on normal, which means it was 180 degrees the other way. One day I was running late, with the fuel running low, and there was a big queue at the petrol station, so I switched the valve round to what I thought was reserve.

Because it was already on reserve, my switching the valve meant I was effectively cutting off the fuel supply to the engine and heading out onto the motorway... Five minutes later I ground to a halt, thinking that the reserve tank on this bike is crap. Luckily the police came, but didn't stop, as it is an offence to run out of fuel on a motorway in Spain.

On the subject of gunk in the tank, years ago I had an old Peugeot which was great, but sometimes cut out for no apparent reason. Mechanics looked and hummed and hawed but couldn't fine anything wrong. Then my brother fitted a 3 euro filter to the fuel feed tube, which solved the problem. So, I wouldn't call that a myth, Daniel.

[Daniel]

So its a myth that when you run low you dont pull all the sh**/water/grit etc through from the tank,well you believe it then,
Why do we have fuel filters on all diesel vehicles ,wagons etc,the FILTER OUT the crap,we also on some fuel filters have a drain off valve on the bottom of the filter to drain of the water,condensation etc that is in the PLASTIC or Metal tank.There are lots of different grades of diesel,that are used in diesel engines ,and it does not have to be as well refined as petrol is.
BUT as a fully qualified motor engineer I maybe dont know as well as you do Daniel
Perhaps you need to resit those qualifications?

Drain points are in there for obvious reasons. I'm sure you're aware that sometimes people will put petrol in a diesel and this tends to cause some rather massive issues......

This mystical grit? Where does it come from? My 500's tank is plastic so not going to start rusting and clogging up the fuel filter? The fuel?

In fact Fiat don't even list the fuel filter as a service item on my car. Granted it is a service item on diesels though for obvious reasons.

[Hazell B]

Daniel, you once posted that I was stupid to run my vehicle low as it would be picking up all the gunk in the bottom of the tank ... so who's looking a bit daft now? :rolleyes:

Anyway, I daren't play roulette with anything but parking attendants. My Range Rover has a drink problem at the best of times and the fuel gauge is mildly eccentric so I won't risk it. Even stopped for diesel on the way to my horse with a vet on a dash mission last year as the light had been on for three miles :mark:

[Daniel]

Daniel, you once posted that I was stupid to run my vehicle low as it would be picking up all the gunk in the bottom of the tank ... so who's looking a bit daft now? :rolleyes:

Anyway, I daren't play roulette with anything but parking attendants. My Range Rover has a drink problem at the best of times and the fuel gauge is mildly eccentric so I won't risk it. Even stopped for diesel on the way to my horse with a vet on a dash mission last year as the light had been on for three miles :mark:
Just like when you said I was Knock On's friend? :rotflmao:

[airshifter]

I usually don't run my tanks down very far on our vehicles. On the little car I'll refill when there are a couple of gallons left, but on that car that is good for at least 60 more miles.

The SUV has a low fuel light and we've hit it a couple times, and BTH I never figured out how much is left when the low fuel light comes on.

On my truck I have two tanks. So really I could run one out all the way and still have fuel in the other to get home or to another gas station. But being that you have to eventually buy fuel either way I just fill at least one tank and keep 1/3 or so in the other at all times.

If nothing else running a fuel pump dry isn't great for the life of the pump, and some fuel pumps aren't cheap, nor are many fuel tanks fun to pull. None of our vehicles have plastic tanks, but in the last 10 years every tank I've seen pulled out of a vehicle was remarkably clean inside. I tend to think most of the problem with crud in the tanks was the result of crap fuels over the years, so better fuels and filtering at the stations have solved most of it.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I don't think running it down near mt will be good in any case. In climates where you have a lot of quick temperature changes, and if the tanks are low, you will be getting condensation in the tanks.

Every mechanic I have ever met has always told me never go below an eighth of a tank.

Thing you have to always remember is it doesn't cost you any more to keep the tank topped up from half or an eighth. It is just time. You stop maybe a bit more, but you always have more in reserve, and what the gas weighs doesn't equal the weight of the passenger beside you...

[GridGirl]

I made it home from work without running out of fuel. I managed to get 49.99 litres of petrol into my 45 litre petrol tank when I eventually got round to filling it up last night. At £55 it was the most expensive tank of fuel that I've put in the car put that is partly down to rising fuel prices.

Driving to work knowing that I would make it without causing traffic chaos wasn't nearly as fun as driving to work yesterday. :D

My mum too is always banging on about the gunk in your petrol tank. My theory is that petrol never last long enough in my car for any significant gunk to go anywhere if that's what happens anyway. :)

[Firstgear]

I've had 42 litres in a 35 litre tank in my 500 before so manufacturers are a little conservative with capacities and you can of course also fit a few litres in the filler neck.

Might also be that the pump isn't calibrated correctly, and you're only getting 0.9X litres when the pump reads 1.0 litres.

[Daniel]

Might also be that the pump isn't calibrated correctly, and you're only getting 0.9X litres when the pump reads 1.0 litres.
I've done it a number of times with a number of different pumps :)

Good stuff GG, filling up with half a tank or a third left is for wimps!

[Dave B]

Might also be that the pump isn't calibrated correctly, and you're only getting 0.9X litres when the pump reads 1.0 litres.
Trading standards are supposed to check these regularly, there's stiff penalties for any retailer selling incorrect quantities. Whether they actually do check I couldn't tell you...

[Mark]

I'm just the opposite. Once the needle is showing less than half full, I'm looking for a filling station.

I usually fill up twice a week. My weekly usage equating to just more than a full tank.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I rarely have more than half a tank because I only ever put £20 in at a time. I've occasionally got a bit worried when all my read-outs say I'm empty but I've never run out yet (touch wood).

I'm not going to deliberately run it dry though.